All About Smoothies and The Original Smooth-Talker

Class is Now In Session

Welcome back. As a continuation of the healthy Paleo diet, today we are exploring smoothies and conducting an investigation on The Original Smooth-Talker.

The Best-Laid Plans

Even the best-laid plans will be derailed if your food doesn’t taste good, or if it’s not convenient to execute your goals.

For a quick meal or great snack option you can always reach for a nutritious home-blended shake.

All About Smoothies and The Original Smooth-Talker

Alive with moist mouthfeel, and lots of flavor, the at-home smoothie can make the perfect breakfast or nightcap.

Beware the pitfalls of pit stops like Jamba Juice. Purveyors of seemingly healthy, ‘nutritious’ fast food are often deceptive.

The convenience is tempting but nutritionally nullified by evil sugar-laden juices, among other things, that actually sabotage the healthy lifestyle they impersonate.

You need a shake that is high-fat, with lots of quality protein, and low in carbs and sugar, exactly opposite of what you will find at a place like Jamba Juice.

Believe it or not, you want 50-70% of your shake calories coming from a good fat source. This will make a super-creamy concoction with a desirable texture.

It must be high in fat, with no added sugar. Remember that eating fat will not make you fat. The human body needs healthy fats. They will satisfy and satiate you and provide lasting energy. Your fats can be coconut milk, nut butters, avocado or a combination of these. You should really check out Mark Sisson’s five smoothie recipes on his website devoted to healthy life choices, especially diet and exercise, called Mark’s Daily Apple. Here I will include a few of my favorites.

Tastes Like Nirvana

Coconut milk, almond butter and cocoa powder are an amazing mixture. I had one this morning, and it’s nothing short of decadent.

Coconut milk alone is rich, heavy and velvety. It’s like a glass of heaven. High in heart-healthy fats, it makes a great base for smoothies, and is extremely low in sugar and carbohydrates. Shake the can really well before you open your coconut milk, because it does separate, and make sure to buy the full-fat variety of coconut milk. You want it nice and smooth and creamy for best results.

Add to that some cocoa powder and protein-rich almond butter, ice, and give it a whirl. Almond butter provides both protein and an additional fat source, and in this shake gives the mixture a unique, earthy flavor not unlike a coffee confection.

Cool and rich, this shake comes out with a texture thick and fluffy yet dense, similar to a loose whipped cream.

I sweeten mine with liquid stevia. Stevia, remember, is an all-natural herbal supplement that is incredibly sweet and pure-tasting. It has zero calories, zero carbs, and scores zero on the glycemic index–making it a perfect choice for diabetics.

The result is positively luscious with a complex melange of deep flavors, and it tastes much better than a chocolate-coffee-peanut butter shake from the ice cream shop.

I Think We Have A Big Misunderstanding

You might wonder why peanut butter would not be used in such a shake. Peanut butter, an American staple, contrary to public opinion, is not a patriotic protein. Even organic peanut butter, without added sugars and hydrogenated oils, is a food faux pas.

Peanuts are the least nutritious nut. In fact, did you know that they aren’t really classified as a nut? They’re technically a legume, and carry a lot of issues with regard to food allergies.

Another misunderstood food player in the Paleo way is the avocado. Long-considered a vegetable, the avocado is actually a fruit. Rich in vitamin E, avocado is a nutrient-dense food that’s great for your skin, especially in the winter months, and it acts as a ‘booster’ by enabling the body to absorb more fat-soluble skin-nurturing nutrients that are available in the other foods you eat. Avocados are great for your heart as well, because they contain both monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Gone Green

Using the avocado in your home-made smoothie is easy as pie, without the awful aftermath to your torso. Coconut-avocado is a divine experience. It may sound odd, but avocado, when mixed with coconut milk, takes on a unique sweet-savory that I can only describe as mmmm.

The Spicy Tomato recipe from Mark’s website, also with an avocado base, is more heaven-in-a-glass. It’s like drinking the richest spiciest guacamole you can imagine.

Food Predators: The Original Smooth-Talker

Repetition is often repetitive, and maybe you’ve forgotten, but we have already touched on the Food Predators–sugar, grains, gluten and processed foods–the counterfeit offerings found in your convenience stores, grocery and many so-called healthy establishments like Jamba Juice.

They’re a real Smooth-Talker. But do not confuse them with a genuine, healthy, real food item.

The Original Smooth-Talker would be your juices–both fruit, and vegetable–energy boosters, soy powder, dairy. An offering from Jamba Juice and its ilk is simply a sugarcoma in styrofoam. ‘Live fruitfully’ is their motto. Pardon me while I laugh. It should really be ‘Diabetes in Disguise.’

These foods deserve an Oscar for Best Actor, because they’re doing a good job at acting important, yet they’re devoid of redeeming value.

In fact, lectins, little known to the public at large, are the common natural agents found in many foods like grains, beans and legumes–especially soy–that actually rob you of the ability to digest nutrients.

Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint, describes lectins as “the cloaked thugs of the anti-nutrient underworld,” and considers them extremely dangerous.

These healthy-looking foods prey on the public, representing themselves as your friend, when in reality they’re just a cart full of killers who hide behind specious food labels and a do-good image.

Eating Your Own Words: Turning the Table on Your Enemies

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. By that, I mean, understand the Food Predators. They don’t like you at all, but they pretend they do. It’s funny, isn’t it, the irony being that they can never satisfy you. Sugar will release an endorphin response that makes you feel better temporarily, but it is very short-lived. It’s not fulfilling, and half the time it doesn’t even taste good. You just give in to temptation, and before you know it, you’ve made a huge mistake that you’re going to have to live with for a while.

I don’t even crave junk food anymore. Those foods used to be tempting, and I didn’t even care that they were bad for me, I just wanted them. But with the many delectable options available in the Paleo diet, you simply don’t need unhealthy foods.

You must be realistic and realize consequences. After you’re finished with these toxic foods, you’re just going to feel worse. They will make you sick, give you a disease, if you let them, and ultimately, they will kill you. That, my friend, is not an overstatement.

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

Food Predators are a bad enemy to have. But together, we are more powerful. They can’t hurt you now.

You see, the informed public drives commerce, and if you take a vote by refusing to financially support these evil foods, they will shrivel up and die. They’re powerless against you.

Trust me when I tell you that they’re all working together to keep you sick and fat.

Can you imagine what would happen to them if these food criminals were exposed for what they really are?

Walk away from them, and leave them standing where they are. They don’t deserve you; say goodbye. If you ignore them long enough they will cease to be a part of your dietary vocabulary.

Please, Come Again

We still have a lot to learn. Meet me back here next Friday as we advance upon The Vicious Circle–the treacherous clan of fraudulent Food Predators to watch out for and avoid at all costs. I’ll expose the ‘Cart Full of Killers’ for who they really are–I’ll even name names–and discuss the concept of Moderation. Strap up cuz it’s going to be a long ride. We’re not done yet.